Egypt-Cyprus gas pipeline to cost $1B: Minister

CAIRO – 9 July 2017: Egypt-Cyprus gas pipeline, currently under construction, will cost $1 billion, Minister of Petroleum Tarek El-Molla said Sunday.

The pipeline will supply gas from Cyprus to for local consumption or export, Molla told On Live newscast.

“We are now coordinating with Cyprus to rapidly proceed with the project,” the minister noted.

The pipeline deal between Cairo and Nicosia was signed in the Cypriot capital in August 2016. Cyprus' Minister of Energy Georgios Lakkotrypis said at that time that the pipeline will be operational between 2020 and 2022.

Egypt’s government will allow the private sector to be involved in gas import and distribution in the country as stated in the natural gas regulatory draft law, approved by the Parliament last week.

After the law comes into effect, the government targets being a regional hub for the trade of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a string of recent major discoveries are expected to make the country gas self-sufficient by the end of 2018.